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Masked Mage
The Masked Mage ("Kamen no Doushi" in the original, meaning Masked Officiating Monk) is one of the three main villains from Trials of Mana, along with the Dragon Lord and the Dark Prince. He serves as the main villain and final boss in Charlotte and Kevin's storylines. He has the same goal as the other two main villains: steal the power of the Sword of Mana, release the eight Benevodons, and take their powers as well to become a god. He also appeared in Heroes of Mana as a playable character. Background The Masked Mage was once a human named Belgar, a priest in the Holy City Wendel whose skills in healing were said to be unmatched. He obtained the title of Oracle of Shadows; the co-leader of Wendel alongside the Priest of Light. Heroes of Mana Belgar, along with the Priest of Light meet the heroes in Wendel after Laurent is conquered. Though at first desiring to stay neutral, that changes after realizing the danger when Esina's mirror is brought up. Though Wendel itself must stay non violent, Belgar's compassion causes him to bend the rules and aid the heroes on his own rather than with Wendel's backing. He guides the heroes to where the various mana stones are. Though he is shown to be a kind and caring man, hints of his reckless side are foreshadowed. He mentions that he will treat those wounded by the war by any means necessary, even if that means using magic he normally wouldn't. In a bonus mission he accidently released Land Umber while trying to gain the power of earth for healing, and rather than learn from that he instead decided to look into the power of darkness instead. Fall from Grace and Descent into Madness Unfortunately, he eventually found a young girl afflicted with a disease that was beyond even his powers to cure. In his desperation, Belgar turned to the dark arts, but the girl died before he could find a cure. Despite that, he continued searching and found a spell that could reanimate the dead. During this time, the people began to fear Belgar, and he was banished by the Priest of Light, though the precise events at the time are somewhat unclear. Most people believe that he challenged the Priest of Light and lost. His son Heath, however, says he was banished out of fear that the city would be cursed. During his time in exile, Belgar was corrupted by the dark magic he pursued and became the Masked Mage, now possessed of a strong hatred for the living and obsessed with his plots of revenge upon the world. Trials of Mana The Masked Mage came up with a plan to become a god by destroying the eight Mana Stones and entering the Mana Holyland. He and his minions, led by Goremand, forged an alliance with the Beastmen, who launched an invasion of Wendel. During this time, Goremand abducted Heath and brought him back to his father, who corrupted him into becoming his most powerful servant. After the invasion was foiled by the Priest of Light's protective barrier, Goremand (along with the servants of the Dragon Lord and the Dark Prince) worked to release the energy of the Mana Stones so a portal to the Mana Holyland could be opened. Meanwhile, the heroes were also trying to open a portal to the Mana Holyland with the help of the eight Mana Spirits so they could reach the Sword of Mana before the rest. Just as the heroes attempted to open a portal, the villains succeeded in releasing the energy from all of the Mana Stones; the extra energy caused the portal to the to float up into the sky, leaving the heroes stranded helplessly on the ground. Meanwhile, the forces of all three main villains entered the Mana Holyland (the Masked Mage's forces used the Beastmen's giant birds to reach the portal) and engaged in battle for control of the Sword of Mana. What happens next depends on who is the main character: * If Duran or Angela is the main character, the Masked Mage is killed by the Dragon Lord. * If Hawkeye or Riesz is the main character, the Masked Mage is killed by Belladonna and Malocchio. * If Charlotte or Kevin is the main character, the Masked Mage succeeds in killing the Dragon Lord and destroying the remains of the Dark Prince. Afterwards, Heath and Goremand wait until the heroes have obtained the Sword of Mana (something they could not achieve) before kidnapping the Faerie and forcing the heroes to exchange the Sword of Mana for her. They then use the sword to release the Benevodons from the Mana Stones, after which they take the sword to the Masked Mage. Although the heroes are able to kill all of the Benevodons, they quickly realize killing them sent their power to the Sword of Mana, increasing the Masked Mage's power as a result. They realize their only hope is to face the Masked Mage himself in his stronghold, the Mirage Palace; on their way there through the Jungle of Illusion, they defeat Goremand. After making their way through the perils of the Mirage Palace, the heroes finally reach the Masked Mage, who compliments them for being powerful enough to defeat the Benevodons and then absorbs the Sword of Mana along with their power. He is unable to completely control his newfound power due to the Goddess of Mana's attempts to hinder him, so the Masked Mage leaves to destroy the Tree of Mana and the Goddess with it. He leaves Heath to kill the heroes, but Heath is defeated; though he comes to his senses, he soon realizes what he has done and kills himself. The heroes make one last journey through the now-withered Mana Holyland, but the Masked Mage succeeds in destroying the Tree of Mana just as the heroes reach him. He offers the Faerie a chance to serve him as her new god, but she predictably declines and attacks him only to swatted away like an insect. The Masked Mage laments of everything hates him, before stating he wore his mask with the intent of eventually taking it off to exact his revenge on the world. He then removes his mask and reveals his true form, the Dark Lich. He quickly overwhelms the heroes, but they are soon healed by the Faerie, who tells the Dark Lich that even without Mana, as long as the heroes have hope, they will create a new world. The Dark Lich is unconcerned by this and mocks the heroes for believing they could stop him. After a long and hard battle, the heroes succeed in defeating the Dark Lich, much to his shock. Abilities The Masked Mage is only fought during the game as the Dark Lich. Being a final boss, he's extremely powerful, possessing a variety of elemental attacks and a number of non-elemental attacks. He also wields some of the desperation attacks used by the Benevodons as he had previously absorbed their powers. His own desperation technique is a powerful magic attack called Death Ecstasy. He's viewed by most fans to be the easiest of the final bosses in Trials of Mana because most of his attacks are just aimed at dealing damage, as opposed to the Dragon Lord and the Archdemon, who have special attacks that lower the heroes' stats in addition to doing damage. Also, he's an undead enemy, making him susceptible to Charlotte's Turn Undead spell. Attacks Magic Dark Force - Level 2 Shadow-Based Magic Death Spell - Instantly kills a target if lower level than the caster Poison Bubble - Tree-based damage and poison status on target Leaf Sabre - Target's weapon will drain MP proportional to damage done Cold Blaze - Level 3 Water-Based Magic, may turn target into snowman Earthquake - Level 2 Earth-Based Magic Stone Cloud - Level 3 Earth-Based Magic, may petrify target Saint Beam - Level 2 Light-Based Magic Ancient - Powerful non-elemental Magic Speed Up - Increases target's hit and evade rates Power Up - Increases target's attack power Defense Up - Increases target's defense Special Attacks Hell Cross - Hits party for heavy magical damage Killstinger - Hits party for moderate magical damage Hypercannon - Hits party for heavy magical damage Prisoner - damages and turns party into Moogles Death Ecstasy - Strongest attack. Hits party for heavy magical damage Quotes Circle of Mana Belgar Masked Mage Trivia * Although the Masked Mage has the same amount of screen time as the Dragon Lord and the Dark Prince, he isn't mentioned as much. Even in Kevin and Charlotte's storyline, the heroes only become aware of who he is when they meet him in person. In the other storylines, his only mention is when Goremand says he was killed. See also * Heath * Goremand * Dark Lich * Thanatos * Lich * Deathbringer External links * External link Category:Villains Category:Characters Category:Heroes of Mana Player Characters Category:Deceased Characters Category:Heroes of Mana Characters